A New Everything
by HumanTales
Summary: Three years after the war, Harry decides to start the New Year with a surprise.  DH spoilers.  HPGW


A New Everything Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

**Author's Note:** Beta'ed by the kind and patient Rakina.

Harry refrained from wiping his sweaty palms on his best dress robes again. He walked into the kitchen and grabbed a towel and wiped them on that instead. Kreacher had been watching him for the past hour with a growing smile and cheerful muttering. Harry finally snapped at the house-elf, "What are you going on about?"

Kreacher didn't seem upset by Harry's temper. "Kreacher knows what Master Harry is doing," he said. "Kreacher knows what is in Master Harry's pocket. Kreacher wants Master Harry to be happy."

"Maybe Kreacher could . . . " Harry broke off. There really wasn't anything Kreacher _could_ do. And it wasn't as if the house-elf was trying to stop Harry from . . . Kreacher was just excited and he didn't have to deal with the nerves as well. Before Harry could snap at Kreacher again, the doorbell rang. Harry took a deep breath and went to answer the door.

There were four people standing on the doorstep, the four most important people in the world to Harry. Still, he'd only been expecting three.

"Hey, there, kidlet," he said, leaning down to swoop Teddy up into his arms. "What's up?"

"Nana come here," Teddy said, smiling up at him. "See pretty clothes."

"Andromeda's coming here to see us all dressed up," Hermione interpreted, smiling. "And she and Molly decided she'd be here at the end of the night to make sure everyone gets home safe and sound."

Harry grinned. He could fill in what wasn't said—that the two women had decided that Andromeda as chaperone would be tolerated better than Molly in the same role. "Do we all look pretty enough for you, Teddy?" he asked the little boy.

Teddy nodded and his hair turned blue. Then he shook his head. "Boys aren't pretty," he said firmly.

Leaning over, Ginny whispered into Teddy's ear, "But their clothes are, yeah?"

As Harry stepped back from the door to let Ron and the girls in, Andromeda Apparated to the front step. "Hi, Andromeda," he greeted her. "I understand you're here to check on our clothes?"

"I miss the days when this time of year was one party after another," Andromeda Tonks said, her black eyes far-away, "and we spent all our time fighting over who would wear what. Those were good memories. So, when Molly told me you four were leaving for the Ball from here, I decided to crash the party. At least a little."

"Well, far be it from me to interfere with anyone's pleasures tonight," Harry said, trying to sweep his guests inside grandly. His gesture was ruined by the giggling little boy he was holding. The others laughed as they walked in and followed him into the parlour.

Before they got there, Kreacher appeared with everyone's favourite drinks. "Mistress Andromeda," he said, with a look of pure enjoyment on his face, "and Master Teddy. Will you be spending the night?"

"Just the evening," Andromeda said. "Teddy and I wanted to see the ball-goers in all their finery."

"And the state we'll be in at the end," Ron laughed. He gave Harry a significant look. Harry shook his head. Ron scowled, but Harry knew that his best friend would be satisfied by the end of the evening. Well, Harry hoped Ron would.

The four friends sat with Andromeda and Teddy for a bit, idly chatting about nothing much. Harry looked at his friends, feeling the happiness bubble through him, more potent than the strongest firewhisky. Ron was wearing new navy-blue robes with some gold embroidered trim. He'd wavered between becoming an Auror and joining George in the shop, he'd even tried to do both for a while, but in the end he'd decided that being a shopkeeper was more than demanding enough. Harry thought it had been the right decision; Ron didn't worry much about money any more, even though he was far more careful with it. Ron was beginning to get a name for himself as a leader on Diagon Alley. He was no longer just the youngest Weasley boy or Harry Potter's best friend; these days, he was the man to go to if you needed to talk with any of the nonhuman or part-human people in the Wizarding world.

Hermione, sitting next to him and playing peek-a-boo with Teddy, was wearing her favourite colour of periwinkle blue, with her hair sleek and piled on top of her head. She'd started by studying the theoretical basis underlying magic, something she'd always wanted to do. Within a month, she was trying to expand SPEW into something that would actually be able to help house-elves and within six months, she'd joined the MLE to get the changes she wanted made. Somehow, trying to change their world into what she thought it should be had calmed her down. The nervousness and worry that had plagued her while they were in school was gone; she could laugh at herself these days. Even if she did still colour-code everything.

And finally, there was Ginny. Harry could barely look straight at her; she was so beautiful. Like Hermione, she'd piled her hair on top of her head, but unlike Hermione, it wasn't neat and sleek, but wild and free. She was wearing dark green dress robes, for the Holyhead Harpies, her Quidditch team. Her robes were more daringly cut than Hermione's, but Harry knew they would be more modest than most of her team-mates'. To Harry, as always, she looked like barely-contained fire. She was relaxed, telling Andromeda a story about something that had happened during the last Quidditch season. Harry dragged his eyes from her and glanced at Ron, who shook his head, smiling.

After half an hour or so, Hermione glanced down at her watch. "We do need to get going, I'm afraid. We'll see you in a few hours, Andromeda."

"Not until after midnight, I hope," the older woman said with a laugh. "Come here, Teddy. Say bye-bye."

As they walked into the ballroom, Hermione looked up at the banner and said, "Good, they got it right."

Harry glanced up at the banner, which read "Ushering in the New Millennium". It was what they'd wanted to use last year, but Hermione had made such a fuss about how inaccurate it was that they'd decided to use another slogan last year. Harry could no longer remember what it was.

This year, Harry was able to relax and just enjoy the party. Two years ago – the first of these celebrations Harry had been to – everyone was just beginning to calm down from the Voldemort War. He'd spent most of his time trying to accept the congratulations and thanks graciously; Kingsley had given him a lecture ahead of time about how important it was that people see he was still approachable and nothing like a Dark-Lord-in-Training. Last year, although he'd gone to the ball, he hadn't been able to relax and enjoy it; he was in the most difficult part of his Auror training and had spent the evening wanting nothing more than to go to bed.

For the beginning of the party, Harry just relaxed and had a good time. Of course, Ginny being his date made it much more fun. They spent most of the night on the dance floor. Harry still needed to be steered around, but with Ginny he could laugh and enjoy it. They did dance with other people: Harry danced with Hermione and Luna while Ginny danced with Neville and Seamus. She pretended to go to dance with Dean; in retaliation, Harry pretended to search out Cho for a dance.

Until shortly before midnight, and the New Year, Harry was able to relax and have fun. But as midnight approached, a knot began to form in his stomach. What if she wasn't ready? What if she didn't find it romantic, but stupid or attention seeking? What if she said, "No"?

Harry took Ginny's hand and pulled her to a quiet corner. On the way, he grabbed a glass of champagne for each of them. Then, he had her sit down and, once she was sitting looking puzzled, he knelt before her. Her eyes flew open and she covered her open mouth with her hand.

"Ginny, for years now," he said, telling himself that it was ridiculous that he was more nervous proposing than fighting Voldemort, "you've been the most important person in the world to me. I know we still have a way to go before we're truly independent, but," Harry took a deep breath and pulled the box with his mother's engagement ring out of his pocket, "Ginevra Molly Weasley, would you do me the great honour of accepting my proposal of marriage? Oh, I love you. Meant to say that first."

Tears were rolling down her face, but she was nodding and holding out her hand, which was shaking. She nodded for a minute before she finally said, "Yes. Oh, Harry, yes!"

He put the ring on her finger and reached up to kiss her, at which point he heard everyone start cheering. Ginny looked up and laughed, a little shakily. "It's midnight." Then, with an accusing tone but a broadening smile, she asked, "Did you plan it that way?"

Harry nodded. "Hoped everyone else would be distracted, but I wanted to start the New Year as your fiancé. I love you, Ginny."

Ginny grinned. "I love you, too, you big, romantic sap." She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a properly enthusiastic kiss.

Some immeasurable time later, he felt a tap on his shoulder. "You can't cut in on this," he said happily.

"Thank Merlin for that," said Ron behind him. "Does that sparkle on my sister's finger mean you're about to be my brother?" Beside him, Hermione was squealing and examining Ginny's hand, and the ring.

Harry didn't really remember the rest of the ball; it was a blur of backslaps, squeals, champagne toasts and congratulations. All he could really see was Ginny's smiling face; all he could hear was her saying, "Yes. Oh, Harry, yes!"

When they finally got home, Andromeda was drowsing on the couch. "How was your evening? Judging from the smiles, it was a good one."

Ginny held out her hand and, although she didn't quite squeal, Andromeda did say, "Congratulations!" before she broke into tears. That woke Teddy up, who had to be comforted before he could understand that Harry and Ginny were going to be married. "But not today," Andromeda laughed while wiping away her tears. "It's a promise for the future."

After everyone had gone home, and Harry collapsed into bed, the only thought in his head was, "She said yes. Sometime soon, going home won't mean leaving." The world seemed new and sparkling and filled with possibilities.


End file.
